Automotive Machining. Mike Mavrigian

a hammer. Place the striker to one side of the plug and hit the striker with the hammer to cock the plug out of position.

       When the plug is cocked, use a pry tool to extract the plug, leveraging the pry bar against the block. If the plug happens to fall inside the water jacket, grab it with Vise-Grip pliers and remove.

       With main caps fully installed to specified torque, measure each main bore with a calibrated bore gauge. The bore gauge is first adjusted to the main bore specification. Any deviation in terms of diameter and out-of-round is then revealed on the gauge.

Block Inspection

      When the block has been completely disassembled to a bare block, clean the block using a jet washer or a cleaning oven, followed by jet washing. Although the block will go through additional cleaning after machining, you should clean the block now to properly inspect it. Visually inspect for cracks, cylinder bore pitting, etc. Using a flaw detection method, further inspect for cracks. This can be done with a dye penetrant system or a handheld magnetic particle inspection. Inspect for cracks on the decks between cylinders, cracks in the cylinder bores, cracks at main webs, etc.

      Install the main caps, tightening the bolts to specification, and measure the main bore diameters using a bore gauge, comparing your findings to that block’s specifications. Record your findings. Using a bore gauge, measure each cylinder’s diameter and record the findings. This provides a reference that helps you to determine if diameter corrections are needed. Even if you plan to overbore the cylinders, measuring the bores now provides a reference.